1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, a printing control method, and a storage medium product in which a printing control program is stored. More particularly, the present invention relates to a printing control method for a printing control program used in an information processing apparatus, such as a personal computer, for producing print data to be printed by a printing device, such as a printer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hitherto, a printing device, such as a printer, has been proposed which is capable of printing print data of multiple pages, received from a host computer, in match with one sheet of output paper through scaled-down layout of the pages, i.e., which has the N-page printing function (function of printing data of N pages on one sheet of paper). To realize that function in a printing device, however, print data of N pages must be analyzed to prepare data in the form of intermediate data easily adapted for printing. Although 2- or 4-page printing is feasible, 8- or 16-page printing requires a very large amount of buffer memories in the printing device and has a difficulty in practical realization because of high cost.
In some of recent printing systems, therefore, the system includes processing to provide an equivalent effect of the N-page printing function on the side of a printer driver that is printer control software installed in a host computer. More specifically, drawing commands input from an application are spooled in such a system. When drawing commands for designated N pages are spooled, the drawing commands for N pages are scaled down and the coordinates of each page are calculated for conversion to new drawing commands. In accordance with the new drawing commands, print data in the printer language is produced.
That N-page printing function in a printer driver is executed by dividing a printable region, which is obtained by subtracting a print margin from a sheet size, into equal N areas, scaling-down the drawing commands for logical pages so as to fall within the respective equal N-divided print areas of the logical pages, and then calculating the coordinates of each page. Through the above processing, the logical pages are arranged in the printable region, and a problem of missing in print of the drawing contents is avoided. Also, while each page of the drawing contents is slightly scaled down in comparison with that obtained by the N-page printing function provided on the printer side, an aesthetically improved printing result is achieved because pages are arranged offset toward the center.
With the conventional N-page printing function on the printer driver side, however, N logical pages are arranged on the basis of the printable region. This feature has led to a disadvantage that when a printed sheet is cut into pieces of 1/N size, the output page layout deviates from that resulting from printing the same N logical pages directly on individual cut sheets of 1/N size. Stated otherwise, when the conventional N-page printing function on the printer driver side is applied to print data on a 4-zone post card (sheet including four normal post cards which are arranged in a two-row, two-column array and which can be used as normal post cards by cutting the sheet into four pieces after printing) issued from the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications in Japan, the print position may deviate depending on the arrangement of four post card areas. For example, contents of four post cards are printed offset toward the center of the original sheet such that an upper left post card is offset downward to the right, an upper right post card is offset downward to the left, a lower left post card is offset upward to the right, and a lower right post card is offset upward to the left. Therefore, a zip code, for example, is printed in misalignment with the designated boxes, and an unsatisfactory printing result occurs.
However, it has not hitherto been proposed to cope with that problem by providing, on the printer driver side, the N-page printing function of arranging logical pages in equal N-divided areas on the basis of a physical sheet.
Also, in recent printer drivers, the N-page printing function is provided as a module common to all printer drivers. This means that whether the N-page printing function is on the basis of a physical sheet or a printable region must be set common to all printer drivers.